The Big Picture

We found saver award availability on Copa Airlines between December 2024 and January 2025 with up to 9 seats available in both economy and business. This can be booked through various programs such as United, Air Canada Aeroplan, or Flying Blue for as low as 12,500 points in economy or 20,000 points in business (both priced per person one way). This is a fantastic option for anyone looking for a great deal on a Caribbean, Central American, or South American vacation over the winter holidays.

Copa Airlines has routes to Panama (PTY) from across the United States. Routes include departures from LAX, SFO, LAS, MIA, FLL, IAD, BWI, JFK, DEN, RDU, AUS, BOS, ORD, ATL, TPA, and MCO. If Panama is not your final destination try another Copa Airline route like SJO, CUR, BOG, MDE, LIM, GRU, GIG, MBJ, PUJ, SDQ, or SXM.

The best fare is through Air Canada, so if you don’t already have points with Flying Blue/ United it could be advantageous to book through Air Canada. Expect to pay around $6-60 per person one way in taxes (varying per program).

One perk of Flying Blue is that it will hold award fares, so you are welcome to call Flying Blue to hold the fare prior to transferring points. If you book through Air Canada, you can add a stopover on each one-way or round-trip ticket for as little as 5k extra per person. Similarly, if you intend to book as a roundtrip through United, you can add a free stopover within Central America (Belize, Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua) by booking as a multi-city utilizing United’s excursionist perk.

Available Dates

Wide open availability in both economy and business! Regardless of which program you book through, United’s low fare calendar will make finding availability a breeze since you can view the whole month at once unlike Air Canada or Flying Blue. Once you find saver award availability on United’s calendar (flying Copa) you can confirm availability on Air Canada (or Flying Blue), transfer points and book!

Step 1: search from LAX, SFO, LAS, MIA, FLL, IAD, BWI, JFK, DEN, RDU, AUS, BOS, ORD, ATL, TPA, MCO to PTY on United.  Check the “book with miles” and “flexible dates” box. If desired, the advance search function can be used to search direct flights only.

Step 2: once you find the first leg, you can play with other Copa arrival locations if Panama is not your final destination

Step 3: compare price on Air Canada/ Flying Blue before transferring points and booking!